TAUNTON — Since the Business Improvement District hired a maintenance worker to perform the task, snow and ice removal from sidewalks in downtown Taunton has not been the problem it was four years ago, according to Taunton police Chief Ed Walsh.

In 2010 and 2011, city leaders warned downtown residents and business owners that they must shovel their sidewalks or face a $50 fine, eventually imposing a slew of fines in the latter year in accordance with city ordinances. A standing city ordinance states that the occupant and, in case there is no tenant, the owner of any building in the central business district must remove snow and ice from their own sidewalks.

Several fines were issued in 2011. But after the Business Improvement District, which was founded by about 60 local businesses in 2010, hired a maintenance man to snow-blow the sidewalks downtown, it hasn't been much of an issue, Walsh said.

No snow removal fines have been issued this year, he said.

"We limit our enforcement to the central business district," Walsh said. "We make sure the sidewalks are clear and remind the owners about it. Downtown used to be problematic, but the BID goes out now and does it, so it really hasn't been an issue like it used to be. Now, it's cleaned fairly quickly."

Aside from that, Walsh said with only two snowstorms so far this year, there hasn't been much snow to clear, anyway.

The ordinance specifically states that the occupant or owner of buildings within the central business district must clear the snow and ice off their sidewalks by 11 a.m. if the snow happens overnight. If the snowfall ceases during the day, it must be removed within four hours of the snowfall ceasing, the ordinance states.

When it comes to residential sidewalks outside of the central business district, there is no mechanism to enforce snow and ice removal, Walsh said.

When there is a snowstorm, the city issues public statements encouraging residents to clear sidewalks and help elderly neighbors with their snow removal.

City Councilor Gerald Croteau said that when he was Taunton superintendent of schools, concerns over cleared sidewalks were one of two major factors in deciding whether or not to close school. While it would be ideal for everyone to promptly clear the sidewalks in front of their homes, Croteau said, it is often difficult for elderly people and working households. In a perfect world, Croteau said, neighbors would help each other, but these days that just doesn't happen as much as it used to.

"It's not the way it was years ago," Croteau said.

The shared maintenance worker employed by the BID has worked out well for the downtown.

"That makes downtown more accessible," said Elisa Scully, interim director of the Downtown Taunton Foundation, which works directly with the BID. "It means people can come out and shop and go to their appointments downtown. It's difficult for many small businesses to hire maintenance person or do it on their own. Pooling of resources to make it better. We have a lot of small biz people who don't have the staff to do that.

Page 2 of 2 - "Then we do have some vacant buildings, where there is no responsible landlord. You can't have a downtown where people just shovel the sidewalk in front of their building and the vacant building next door is still covered in snow."